Brendan Smith
Question:271. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Health his plans to increase funding for home support in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52439/19]
View answerThursday, 12 December 2019
Questions (271)
Written answers
In line with Programme for Government commitments we have made improved access to home support services a priority. We have committed to an additional investment of €52 million in Budget 2020 for home supports and next year the HSE plans to deliver over 19.2 million hours of home support. This represents a substantial increase of 1 million hours more than this year’s target.
This investment is focused on enabling older people to remain at home and reducing the current waiting lists for the service being experienced in almost all areas. As appropriate, provision of hours will also be targeted at times of peak demand in Winter 2019-2020, at the beginning and end of the year, to ensure more timely egress from hospital for our older citizens.
The HSE National Service Plan 2020 has been submitted and is under consideration in my Department. The allocation of hours and targets to Community Healthcare Organisations is currently underway and will be finalised in the coming weeks.